Brocker.Org: Hedge fund showman Scaramucci: ‘I remain loyal to the president and to the cause’

In the absence of a new job, Mr. Scaramucci, in a rambling confessional before hundreds of hedge fund insiders, offered hints about his future.

“I remain loyal to the president and to the cause,” he said, telling a story about shaking hands with people at a Trump rally in Albuquerque and learning about the economic desperation many Americans face.

“It took a billionaire who lives in a tower on Fifth Avenue next to the Tiffany’s jewelry store to show me something that I missed from my own neighborhood,” he said, referring to his upbringing on Long Island, which he has described as a blue-collar community.

Mr. Scaramucci’s state of limbo is a stark turnaround for a man who, just months ago, seemed to be on the fast track to a senior role in the Trump administration.

“Anthony is an entrepreneur and a good man,” said Leon G. Cooperman, a hedge fund manager. “He professionalized the industry, and SALT is the highlight of the industry.”

Mr. Cooperman, who has addressed SALT panels in previous years but was not at the conference this year, said Mr. Scaramucci “would have been a good addition to the administration” but added that Mr. Trump “has already appointed many intelligent people.”

Mr. Scaramucci, 53, did not reply to requests for comment.

In what has become industry lore, he transformed SkyBridge from a small seeding business on the brink of failure to a large fund of funds by buying Citigroup’s hedge fund business in early 2010, as the bank was trying to shed risky assets.

A longtime Republican donor, Mr. Scaramucci supported a handful candidates, including Scott Walker and Jeb Bush, in the presidential primaries last year. Along the way, he accused Mr. Trump of being a “hack politician” who had a “big mouth.”

Mr. Trump had equally tart words for hedge fund managers, who he said were “paper pushers” who were “getting away with murder.”

But as Mr. Trump’s unlikely candidacy gained steam, Mr. Scaramucci began to defend him. At last year’s SALT conference, he hosted Steven T. Mnuchin, then Mr. Trump’s campaign finance chairman and now the Treasury secretary.

Mr. Scaramucci arranged meet-and-greets between Mr. Mnuchin and some of the billionaire hedge fund managers in attendance. The men also shared a meal with Kenneth C. Griffin, the billionaire founder of the Citadel hedge fund and other conference speakers. Mr. Griffin contributed $100,000 to President Trump’s inauguration.

Mr. Scaramucci raised significant sums for the Trump campaign and joined his inaugural committee.

He said he was offered a job in the White House on Jan. 12. On Jan. 17, he announced that he had sold his stake in SkyBridge to a consortium led by HNA Capital and RON Transatlantic. As part of that sale, the SALT conference affiliated with SkyBridge was spun off to some of his former colleagues.